Unstoppable
by Andriela
Summary: .:Indefinite hiatus, under construction...things such as:. Tori's back in town, and it seems as though his feelings for her are unstoppable, no matter how much he tries not to care.
1. Chapter 1: Starting

"A day off?"

Mr. Arthur Bumble, owner of the overpriced surf shop, was on another one of his before-closing-time rants. His most dedicated and most popular employee, Victoria Hanson asked for a day off. A normal manager would understand or give a few huffs and puffs about it. Unfortunately, Mr. Bumble was not an ordinary manager. Let me just say that Mr. Bumble was Scrooge without a heart deep down inside.

"Please, Mr. Bumble, it's just one day," the young woman pleaded. "I really need to take this day off."

"Why?" he asked, his beady black eyes showing no compassion, and for that matter, no emotion, except, of course, for the occasional flicker of anger.

The not-quite-twenty-year-old Victoria began to explain. "I'm moving back to Blue Bay Harbor next week. The commute is only two hours from here, but I will need to unpack and get everything settled for J—"

Mr. Bumble, however, interrupted her, also discharging a few specks of saliva at the same time, due to his anger. It was, indeed, an act Mr. Bumble managed to master. "Oh please, using that little brat as an excuse again?"

"But sir—"

"Listen to me, Miss Hampton, and listen well," Mr. Bumble began. For about the billionth, maybe trillionth, time, Mr. Bumble had mistaken her name. "If you're not in this shop, serving customers, and instead you're driving down to Blue Bay Harbor, using that wretched child—"

"What?" she asked, her fury rising. "All right, Mr. Bumble," she spat, "I've worked for you for several months, and I've learned a lot about you. You've told me _many_ things, but now _I_ would like to say some things to _you_.

"First of all, it's _Hanson_. Han-son. Do you understand? Second, my child is nowhere _near_ wretched, so I don't want to hear you saying anything else about him. And third, _I quit_.

"That's right, _sir_, I quit! Have fun finding a new employee!" Victoria shouted from the top of her lungs.

Victoria stomped away, feeling exhilarated, and at the same time, quite frightened. Victoria needed that job, needed an income, for the young person thrust upon her at so young an age. He _needed_ her, and she him. Unfortunately, this young being made life so much more difficult. And yet, Victoria enjoyed every minute of it.

She reached the corner, shaking from head to toe with fright. How could she have just given up her job? Tears began to sting her eyes. She could not go back there and beg for her job; her dignity would not allow it. Yet, what would she do?

An idea came to her, and Victoria ran as fast as she _humanly_ could. In a short instant, she arrived upon a doorstep and burst through the door.

Thankfully, the owner of that house was a very good friend of Victoria's otherwise we all might have thought Victoria had gone mad.

"Sara!" Victoria called out. "I'm in a bit of trouble.

Sara Lively, possibly the kindest person on the face of the Earth, was the other employee of Mr. Bumble. Sara would willingly give the last piece of bread out of her mouth to a friend in need, but thankfully, none of her friends were that desperate, otherwise that would be slightly unpleasing to the eye.

"Ooh, did you finally kill Bumble?" she asked teasingly.

"Not quite, but, it does have something to do with him," Victoria said.

"What?"

"Well, see, I did . . . something kind of . . . out of character for me. . ."

"Which was. . ."

"I . . . I, uh, quit. The job. That Mr. Bumble gave me," Victoria said, waiting for Sara's reaction. "And I kind of yelled."

"You . . . quit."

Victoria only nodded her head.

Sara squealed with delight. "Yes! Finally! Someone put that uptight jerk in his place!" She ran over and grasped Victoria's hands in hers. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Sara?" Victoria said grimly. "I kind of have a problem now."

Sara gave her a quizzical look.

"Money! What am I going to do?"

"Simple, you can borrow from me!"

Victoria, instead of being ecstatic as Sara was, only sighed exasperated. "Sara, come on. Mr. Bumble's paycheck can barely support _one_ person. Now it's magically going to support three people?"

Reality hit Sara like a ton of bricks. She sunk down into her sofa. "I guess you're right," she said quietly. "But what are you going to do now?"

"I have no idea," Victoria admitted sullenly.

They sat in the living room of Sara Lively for what seemed like hours, or possibly could have been hours. After Victoria let out another sigh, Sara perked up her head and smiled.

"I have an idea," she said simply.

Victoria waited. "So . . . you going to tell me anytime soon?"

"No," Sara said flatly. "I'm going to show you."

"Show me? Can't you just tell me?"

"No. You'd better call Mrs. Mann and tell her she'll be watching Justin for a bit longer, a few hours or so."

"Sara, what are you up to?" Victoria asked, a slight smiled upturning the corners of her lips.

..:X:..

"Is the blindfold really necessary?" Victoria whined, sitting in the passenger seat of Sara's car.

"Well, if I'm going to surprise you, then yes, it is really necessary," Sara retorted.

Sara drove, and Victoria whined, until finally the car stopped. When the two friends got out, Victoria hurriedly took off the blindfold to see where Sara had taken her.

After observing her surroundings for all of two, maybe three, seconds, she turned to Sara and asked, "Blue Bay Harbor? Why are we here?"

Sara nodded her head in the direction she wanted Victoria to look.

When she did, Victoria saw a building, a very worn down building, to be frank.

"So, what do you think!" Sara demanded rather than asked.

"Uh, what am I supposed to do with it?" Victoria asked.

"Buy it!" Sara exclaimed, as though it were obvious.

"And then. . ."

"Fix it up, and make it into your very own surf shop!" Sara said, a bright smile taking over her face. When Sara looked over at her friend, she saw Victoria was not convinced. "Come on, it's really not that bad!"

Sara dragged Victoria inside by the hand. "It's kind of . . . dirty," Victoria said.

"Hey! Look at this place. The ceilings are really high, so you can stand up so many surfboards. And look, see that wall over there," Sara said, pointing to a large blank wall. "You can put pictures of you surfing, or, wait; even better, you hang pictures of your students!"

"Students?"

"Yeah! You're going to give surfing lessons! And . . . over there you can put the cash register, and in that corner you can put a TV! The structure of the building is strong; it's just dirty in here. The outside just needs a good scrub down!

"And you know I have all those tools in my shed since my Dad never took it with him when my parents moved out. And, you're going to have employees, and _you_ can be the boss!"

Victoria took a second look at the shop. "Well, I guess it's not _that_ bad. Plus, it's right next to the beach . . . I'll buy it!"

"Great! And since the building is pretty gross, the price is low, so you can totally afford it!" Sara said, happy for her friend.

Victoria sighed. "But, there's this problem I have. See, I need someone to help me with the business . . . someone who has some experience with surfing, if you know what I mean."

Victoria and Sara shared a smile and a giggle.

"I guess I'd better start looking for a place out here," Sara said.

"There is something else you have to do."

"Which is. . ."

"Talking to a certain boss whose name starts with a 'B' and ends with 'Umble.'"

"Ooh, you're right. I'm going to give that jerk a piece of my mind!" Sara exclaimed happily. Her eyes widened. "I should plan out everything I should say to _Bumble_."

"While you do that, I think we should get back home," Victoria reminded her friend.

"Oh, yeah. Mrs. Mann probably isn't too pleased."

"And neither is Justin," Victoria said grimly.

..:X:..

"Mrs. Mann?" Victoria called as she tiptoed into her house.

"Hello, Miss Hanson," Mrs. Mann said, briskly, as if in a rush. "Justin is already in bed."

Victoria formed a pleasant smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Mann, for watching Justin all the time."

She only responded with a curt nod of her head. As Mrs. Mann headed toward the door, Victoria could have sworn she heard Mrs. Mann mutter under her breath, "Good riddens."

Shrugging her shoulders, Victoria closed the door. So much had happened in this day. She quit her job, decided to start her own business . . . good thing there was still a week until she moved, because it would take a week to fix up that building, and get all the supplies she needed.

There was something else Victoria had to do. She knew the time would have to come sooner or later, but she hadn't realized this feat would be so difficult. There was someone, actually, _five_ someones, with whom she would have to encounter once she returned to her hometown. It would not have been so hard for her to do, but now there was a young person in her life, and the last time those five someones had seen her, this young person did not exist.

* * *

**A/N:** Hii! This is Januarial Thorns, and my first story that I plan on finishing!

The story is off to a bit of a slow start, don't remind me. And don't fret! The guys will be back!

Reviews are appreciated!

Oh, and I guess I should have said this earlier: I do not own the Power Rangers

-Januarial Thorns


	2. Chapter 2: Renovations and Discoveries

Twenty year old Waldo Brookes walked into the building of his long-time job, Storm Chargers, where he encountered his boss Kelly, scolding him for being late yet again. Waldo, who preferred being addressed as Dustin, for the name Waldo was an utter embarrassment, had heard this speech so many times he could reciprocate it back to his red-headed boss, word for word, hand motion for hand motion.

Nevertheless, Dustin walked by his boss, apologizing at the correct points in the admonishment, only focused on reaching his destination, which was a mere seven feet away.

"Hey, dude," Dustin said, greeting his blonde-haired friend, clothed in faded blue-jeans, and of course, a crimson button down, hanging open, revealing his white wife- beater. "I was walking down Pine Crescent Lane before. Someone's opening up a surf shop down in that old beaten down place."

Hunter Bradley could only sigh.

The act of surfing only reminded him of the woman who had walked into his life, and then mysteriously disappeared with only a note as a goodbye. Hunter knew the letter was still on the grounds of the Ninja Academy. Although she was gone, they at least had some small part of her, just her handwriting, to keep. They knew that, through that letter, they could not see her smile, or watch her glide over the waves, but they could still remember those things. Hunter knew he would never forget anything about her, her laugh, her eyes, her tauntings . . . nothing. And he also would never forget that letter, the letter that acted as the shears in their relationship, slicing away at their bond.

_When Hunter woke up, he knew something felt different, but looking outside, he saw the day was just like any other, and he convinced himself that it was all in his head._

_Except it wasn't._

_Hunter walked into Ninja Ops, the place where they had come so often as Rangers, whether to hear Sensei Watanabe's latest revelation, or to celebrate their latest victory against Lothor and another one of his useless monsters. Already he could tell things were off balance, as if something was missing, though he couldn't place his finger on what. _

_The high-tech computers that Cam was constantly glued to were still in their place, up and running, their intricacies known only to Cam. Sensei Watanabe sat in a chair, still as human as ever. Cushions, seats, scrolls, plants . . . everything was there. _

_Excluding the noise. _

_Noise. That is what was always found when the Rangers were in Ninja Ops. But not today. All that greeted him was a biting silence that made him uneasy. _

_Why wasn't Shane telling everyone about how annoying Kyle was, as he did every morning? Why wasn't Cam there, lecturing Shane on how he had to be patient with his students? What happened to the part of the morning where Sensei asked for silence, but was ignored? Where was the part where Blake poked Dustin awake? Where Tori's sparkling laugh, as she smiled at the scene?_

_Why was everything so incredibly _wrong

_Their faces turned to him, all except one. _

_Tori. _

_"Where's—" Hunter began._

_They knew his question; Hunter saw it in their faces. In response, Blake thrust a crumpled piece of paper into his hands. Hunter opened the balled up sheet of paper and read the words that were quickly scribbled out._

_Hunter read, but he did not comprehend the words. He remembered certain words that seemed to flash out at him._ _Emergency. Family. Leaving. _

_Those three simple words told him all that he needed to know. _

_Tori had left. _

_That was a dark day for the Rangers._

"So?" Hunter asked, wondering why this piece of information should provoke any emotion on his part.

"I was thinking we could check it out," Dustin stated simply.

Hunter knew why Dustin wanted to go to this new surf shop, and it was not because he had taken up a sudden interest in surfing to feel closer to his absent best friend.

Hunter sighed. "Dude, I don't think she's coming back."

After the first couple of days after Victoria's departure, everyone tried to cope, emphasis on 'tried.' It did not exactly go as they hoped. Blake usually came by every two or three days, by ninja streak of course, to catch up. But with Victoria gone, his visits became shorter and farther apart. After several months, he just called and emailed. Shane and Dustin thought it was a practical, but at the same time cruel, joke, and the very first day, they waited for Victoria to pop out of a dark corner, laughing at their gullibility. They waited for her, all day, and all night, all the way up until two in the morning. She never popped out. Cam and Sensei were troubled by Victoria's absence as well, though they did not show it as the others did. Hunter was, at first, angry with her. How could she leave them like that, he wondered, not even saying goodbye in person? In a letter? How impersonal could she be?

Later, however, he changed, accepting her leaving as the others did, but he did not believe she would return, as they did. He refused to get his hopes up, for he knew they would just be crushed.

Little did Hunter know how wrong he was.

.:X:.

Victoria let out a breath, admiring her handiwork. In just a week, she had repaired her shop, which ended up being donned Surf But No Turf, courtesy of Justin and Sara.

Justin came up with the name, and Sara agreed. Victoria immediately protested, saying it sounded childish.

"Doesn't matter," Sara said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "you're overruled."

"Doesn't matter," Victoria said in a tone not unlike Sara's. "This is not a surf-ocracy."

Victoria ended up giving in, realizing she would have been on Sara and Justin's side all the way one year ago.

Victoria still had some renovations to do on her house, such as a badly needed paint job, new floors, and an overhaul of the downstairs bathroom. But Victoria wanted to finish the store first, and that week, she and Sara worked from dawn until after dusk, calling companies, taking out loans, hammering, drilling, cleaning, and mostly buying.

After a day at the shop, Victoria realized they needed to shop, and not for shoes. So the next day, Victoria and Sara went to the store, buying lighting, wood, and paint, specifically in hues of blue, yellow, and red. After six and three-quarter days of arduous labor, contractors, and bank personnel, Victoria was ready for the part where owning her own business became fun.

It was already three in the morning, as Victoria and Sara had spent that whole day renovating the shop. The day had been anything but a bowl of plump red cherries, draining her physically and emotionally. At one point, in the late morning, Victoria could have sworn a tall, curly-haired man wearing an unmistakable yellow t-shirt passed by, and throughout the rest of the day, she worried that one of _them_ would have come sauntering through the door, gaping at her as though she were a ghost.

Victoria tormented her mind with possible worst-case-scenarios, and now she could not get them out of her head. She checked the clock. Five minutes past three AM.

Victoria no longer saw the point in trying to sleep. Later that day, floor contractors were to come and install new flooring in her house. Marble tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms; carpeting in the living room and bedrooms; and hardwood flooring in the dining room. Her parents always told her that hardwood flooring forever added a classy touch.

There was not much Victoria could do at the raw hour of three-thirty. She did not yet install the television she had brought from her old home, so that was out. It was too dark to read, and honestly, Victoria was not in the mood for mental exercise. Victoria laid her head down in exhaustion, and without a stray thought in her mind, she was fast asleep.

.:X:.

Victoria awoke to the sound of ringing. Dazed, she opened her eyes and wondered what in the world could be making that infernal _ding-dong_ noise that had awoken her from her slumber.

_Ding-dong._

_Ding-dong._

She listened as the sound came once, then twice. _A doorbell, _she thought. Finally, the gears in her mind began working, as she realized it was _her_ doorbell that was being rung.

Jumping up from her couch, she dashed to the door.

Three carpenters stood there. After exchanging greetings, she showed them inside. As they kneeled down in their respectable places, installing the flooring, Victoria dashed up the stairs to Justin's room and shook him awake.

"Come on, squirt," she said, ruffling his hair, "get dressed. We're going down to the store while Sara watches the house."

Victoria threw on her favorite pair of low riders and slipped on a blue tank top, a color that had come to dominate her wardrobe. After quickly brushing her teeth and throwing her hair into a messy bun, she thrust her feet into blue flip-flops and jumped down the stairs. Conveniently, the doorbell rang at Justin moseyed down the wooden staircase.

"I cannot thank you enough," Victoria gushed, as she opened the door to the sight of her green-eyed friend.

"No problem," Sara said with a wave of her hand.

"We'll be back in a few hours!" Victoria said, walking out to her car with Justin in tow.

Victoria kind of missed her old van. The blue Ford Explorer she bought was very nice, she had to admit, but since her aged van had experienced a massive amount of wear and tear, her old van started slowly falling apart, and she had no choice but to buy a new car.

As the young woman journeyed into her past, they had arrived at the paint store. Victoria knew what she wanted: blue, blue, and more blue. The same could not be said for Justin, however.

"Maybe I should get red," he mused.

"Okay," Victoria concurred.

"No, yellow," he said.

"Sure."

"No, wait! Green!"

"Justin, just pick a color," Victoria groaned.

He ended up choosing a hue of blue, a bit darker than her own blue, after about a half an hour and the growing impatience from Victoria.

Placing the paint cans in the large trunk, they headed off to the local home improvement store, Lowe's, where Victoria purchased a new toilet and sink, adding to her growing amount of debt. She sighed while they shopped for groceries in the local Stop and Shop Supermarket. They bought just about every food in the store, courtesy of Justin.

Four hours after their departure, Victoria and Justin returned home with a car much heavier than when they left. Walking through the door, they found Sara, bored out of her mind, and the carpenters cleaning up, on their way out.

"Wow, this looks great!" Victoria exclaimed when she saw the beauteous new flooring. She handed the men her credit card and signed away at the 'x.'

The men left with a farewell, and then the three got to unpacking. Plates, glasses, forks, knives, cans, food, everything went into their respective cabinets.

The three unpacked clothes and stowed them away in closets and drawers. Shampoo bottles were stored in closets, and towels were folded. Beds were made, and dining room tables were moved. Televisions, game consoles, and DVD players were hooked up, and toilets and sinks were installed.

Once everything was in its place, it was dinnertime. Victoria asked Sara to stay for the pizza she just ordered, but Sara declined.

"I'm just going to go home and crash," Sara said, yawning.

They exchanged goodbyes with a hug, and after dinner, Victoria got to work again. She opened the paint for the living room. For once, she picked a color other than blue, a pale yellow which the salesclerk called "Buttercup."

Justin sat down with his third slice of pizza, his eyes glued to the television. Victoria was perched precariously at the edge of the step stool with a roller of Buttercup colored paint. Blowing a few strands of hair that had fallen out of her bun, she wiped her hand across her forehead, smearing yellow paint on her face. She could tell this long day would only get longer.

.:X:.

"That's weird."

"What?" Hunter asked, looking over to his friend who stared perplexedly at the computer, as Dustin walked over to the computer. Shane looked up expectantly, ready to jump into action if need be.

Cameron Watanabe was not exactly sure. According to his computer, the former Blue Ranger was back in Blue Bay Harbor. That could not be true, Cam decided. If their friend had come back, she would have come to see them, would she not? The readings were not always one hundred percent accurate either. They all wore necklaces with small communication devices hanging off of them, but decorated so that they seemed like an attractive accessory. In those devices Cam had placed a tracking device, in case of emergencies. Growing up in a ninja academy taught him to always expect the unexpected.

Cam realized Victoria could have lost the device, and someone else had haphazardly turned it on, reactivating the tracking sensor. But something pulled at him. And Cam wanted to find out.

"Dude?" Shane asked when Cam failed to respond.

"Come look at this," Cam said, motioning Hunter, Dustin, and Shane over to the computer. They looked but they did not see.

"What exactly are we looking at?" Hunter asked.

Cam pointed over to one of the many programs on the screen. In one of the smaller scale ones, he maximized the screen, bringing it up to full size. The computer screen showed an array of lines and colored dots.

"This program," Cam explained, "shows exactly where you guys are. Inside the necklaces I told you were used for communication purposes only, I also installed a tracking device, in case something weird started up.

"The communicators can be turned off, and when they are, the trackers are turned off as well, which is why it was impossible to track Tori," Cam said, matter-of-factly. "But it shows here that the communicator is back on, showing the blue dot, right there," Cam pointed.

They understood. The lines were the streets of Blue Bay Harbor. The series of colored dots, they failed to realize, were color coordinated. A red dot, a yellow dot, a green dot, and a crimson dot were huddled together, just as they really were.

"As you can see, Blake is not on this map. If we wanted to see Blake, I'd have to zoom out," Cam stated. He went to go do so, but Dustin stopped him.

"Dude! Is that . . ." he trailed off, staring at the blue dot.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Cam said.

Several moments passed before any of them spoke.

_Can Tori really be back?_ Hunter wondered.

.:X:.

Blake Bradley had just finished dinner with his sponsor, Roger Hanna, when the diminutive communicator that hung from his neck made a series of beeping reverberations. He quickly excused himself and darted to the nearest desolate place.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, speaking into the necklace.

"You'd better get back here," the voice of his older brother sounded.

Not asking any questions, Blake dashed away at a speed faster than the human eye could track. He arrived at his destination in less than two minutes, Ninja Ops. He rushed down the rocky steps to encounter his friends.

"Lothor again?" Blake asked in a grim voice.

Dustin sucked in a breath. "Not exactly, dude. Not exactly."

"Then what is it?" he asked, bewildered.

"Cam? It looks like you're going to have to explain the program again," Shane said.

Blake walked over to the computer.

Cam sighed. "This program shows exactly where you guys are. . ."

* * *

**A/N:** If I have any psychic abilities whatsoever, I foresee I will kick myself in the future for how I plotted out this chapter. It seems fairly choppy and abrupt, now that I've read over it a second time.

Right now I can't stand this story. It's choppy, long, and my grammar is infuriating. I've tried re-wording sentences time and time again, but they are still as grammatically awkward as before. The plot is totally screwed up, and I am just not happy. If my perfectionist side ever calms down, and I get over this darn writer's block, I'll update quickly (next month, most probably). There's a chance I won't update next month, but I'll explain all that in a profile update. But I will finish this story, even if it kills me!!!!!!!!

Oh, I don't own the Power Rangers, blah, blah.

But enough of my whining and boring disclaimers. What inspired me to update was all the reviews I got! Many thanks to **earth-fairy2006**, **pinklen98**, **farm-girl84**, **Puggles Master**, **Hieiko**, **ariesbritt26**, **Dark Yellow Dino**, **band rox my sox on**, **SARAH**, **footychick**, **amethyst fire phoenix**, and **Trinix216**.

Also, if you haven't noticed, I changed my pen name. The title will also undergo a change as well because I picked it out hastily to post the story.

Oh, and reviews are appreciated!

-Andriela


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